Monday, July 31, 2017

We are into the home stretch for those declaring their candidacy and getting on the ballot. There are only 12 candidates thus far who have submitted signatures to qualify for the ballot. The filing deadline is August 24th, so there is still time for those out there trying to get on the ballot, but not much time life. Unless there is a very well known or wealthy person who wants to gets on the ballot, then at this point it would take a massive effort for a new candidate to break into the top half of finishers. With four year terms, serious candidates have been working at this for months now and have raised some money and built a ground game. This is not the type of race that can be won with a Facebook page and a few handmade signs. Organization is the key to this race and reaching and motivating voters is the goal. As August goes on, I'll update the listing if there is significant activity before the 24th. Once the ballot is set, I plan on maintain a listing of candidates based on likelihood of winning.

As always: If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

I am not sure if this was intentional or if this image was partially shaped by the presentation of the Enquirer's Jason Williams in his PX Column For this gay Cincinnati candidate, 'identity politics is a joke', but Republican City Council Candidate Seth Maney comes across incredibly snarky and abrasive. I think I'm being generous with that observation. What wasn't reported in the article was how Maney can square being openly gay with running as candidate for a political party that is openly anti-gay. That is a question he will face from anyone who supports LGBTQ rights.

Instead the article paints Maney as being almost self righteous about not running as the gay candidate, while still making sure everyone know's he's gay. He is still playing identity politics, but he's being a hypocrite about it. You can't honestly be against calling attention to the fact you are not doing something, when by calling attention to that you in fact do the thing you are against.

With the stances of the Republican Party on LGBTQ issues, it is a mystery why an openly gay person would run for office as a Republican. This article didn't dig into that. The local media hasn't been too interested in asking local Republican candidates about their stances on Trump or other State or National issues that make the GOP and their followers appear to be theocratic fascists, or just not willing to publish their answers.

Maney didn't give an stance on the Streetcar to the Enquirer, which is not surprising. As a person involved with OTR he likely at least voiced support for the project, if not a documented supporter, but will do what ever he can to make City Republicans either never find that out or if he goes against the project think it is "Fake News". As a resident of Clifton he is going to have to take a position on extending the Streetcar up to UC and Pill Hill. His website lacks any policy positions, so other than this article, we don't have much public info on any of his stances on the issues facing the city. At best we have caricature of Seth Maney and so far he is not acting like someone who has something offer the city, he just wants to promote his image. That's not much of a candidate and just makes him look self absorbed.

Sunday, July 09, 2017

Throwing in the towel when you announce your endorsed candidates for Cincinnati Council seems like a shooting-yourself-in-the-foot move, but that is ​exactly what the Hamilton County Republican Party did when they officially announced their slate of THREE candidates for Cincinnati City Council this past week.

Yes, you read that correctly, THREE.

To make sure you are thinking correctly, yes there are Nine seats on council, and Five seats are needed for a basic majority to pass any ordinances. Six seats are needed for a veto proof majority from the Mayor. Even if closeted Republican Chris Smitherman wins, that still leaves them short from the start. For those grasping at straws, a coalition Council with Charter Committee endorsed candidates is a pipe dream, with all but one of their endorsements being solid Democrats/Progressives.

So, the GOP has conceded the 2017 Cincinnati Council Race.

Three candidates is the lowest number of endorsed candidates for the Republicans in decades, if not in the history of the party.

If you need any additional evidence of the GOP giving up on the city, I don't know what you could get.

The person who should be most worried about this slate of candidates is John Cranley. The only way Cranley can win the Mayor's race is by getting nearly all of the Republican votes in the city. He not only has to win their vote, he needs to get them to come out and vote. They didn't do that as well in the primary this year as they did four years ago. If the GOP in Mt. Washington, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout and Westside don't vote in strong numbers and vote for Cranley, he has no chance to win.

So, without any chance of gaining the majority seats of the law making body of the city, with the real power to make policy, what will motivate a City Republican to vote this November?